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Negro  Literacy  and  Illiteracy 

[Census  of  1900] 

G.  S.  DTCKERMAN 

T7^  ACH  Census  for  the  last  fifty  years  has  shown  a marked  gain  in 
JJj  the  number  of  Negroes  able  to  read  and  write.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  the  period  there  can  hardly  have  been  more  than  one  in  ten  of 
the  whole  people  ; now  the  number  is  about  half. 

The  enumeration  is  given  by  the  Census  for  those  over  io  years 
of  age,  with  divisions  into  various  classes.  Twenty  years  ago  a majori- 
ty of  all  the  illiterates  in  the  United  States  were  “Colored  ”,  including 
under  this  heading  Indians,  Chinese  and  Japanese.  In  1900  this  is 
changed  and  the  white  illiterates  outnumber  the  colored  by  221,423. 
The  increase  of  white  illiterates  is  due  to  immigration  from  foreign 
lands,  mostly  in  the  North.  In  1880. the  foreign-born  white  illiterates 
were  763,620  and  in  1900  1,293,171,  an  increase  of  529,551  of  which 
482,653  were  in  the  North  and  West,  33,701  in  Louisiana  and  Texas  and 
13,197  in  the  sixteen  other  states  of  the  South  Atlantic  and  South 
Central  Divisions.  Quite  in  contrast,  the  native  born  white  illiterates 
in  1880  were  2,255,460  and  in  1900  1,913,611,  a decrease  of  341,849,  of 
which  170,054,  or  nearly  a half,  were  in  the  South. 

The  movement  among  the  Negroes  in  the  decade  from  1890  to 
1900  is  of  especial  interest.  In  1890  the  number  over  10  years  of  age 
was  5,328,972  with  3,042,668  illiterates,  57.1  per  cent,  and  in  1900 
6,415,581  with  2,853,194  illiterate,  44.5  per  cent.  That  is,  the  whole 
number  increased  1,086,609,  while  the  illiterates  decreased  189,474,  and 
the  per  cent  of  illiteracy  declined  13.1  which  means  that  the  propor- 
tion of  illiterate  Negroes  at  the  end  of  the  ten  years  was  only  about 
three  quarters  of  what  it  was  at  the  beginning. 

The  progress  is  similar  for  the  youth  of  the  race  taken  separately. 
Of  those  15  to  19  years  of  age  the  per  cent  of  illiterates  in  1890  was  42.6 
while  in  1900  it  was  31.8,  only  about  three  quarters  of  what  it  was  at 
the  beginning  of  the  decade.  Naturally  the  per  cent  of  illiteracy  is 
less  for  the  young  than  those  who  are  older.  Of  those  10  to  14  years 
of  age  the  per  cent  of  illiterates  is  30.1,  and  of  those  10  to  19  years 
30.9,  which  means  that  7 out  of  every  10  of  the  Negro  young  people 
are  now  able  to  read  and  write. 


# 


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The  proportion  of  male  illiterates  is  a little  less  than  that  of  females. 
For  the  males  over  io  years  of  age  it  is  43.0  per  cent,  and  for  the  fe- 
males it  is  45.8.  The  difference  in  this  particular  is  very  nearly  the 
same  in  the  North  and  South  though  it  varies  somewhat  in  the  several 
states.  In  Virginia,  West  Virginia  and  Kentucky  the  number  of  illit- 
erates is  greater  among  the  males  than  among  the  females,  and  this  is 
true  also  in  several  Northern  states  having  a small  Negro  population. 

Great  differences  in  amount  of  illiteracy  appear  on  comparison  of 
different  parts  of  the  country  and  different  communities.  In  the 
North  Atlantic  states  the  proportion  of  illiterates  among  those  over  10 
years  of  age  is  13.8  per  cent,  in  the  North  Central  21.7,  in  the  West- 
ern 13. 1,  in  the  South  Atlantic  47.1,  and  in  the  South  Central  48.8. 
Among  those  ic  to  19  years  of  age  the  proportion  in  the  North  and 
West  is  5.1  per  cent  and  in  the  South  33.2. 

Most  of  the  Negroes  in  the  North  are  in  cities  and  large  towns 
where  the  schools  are  good  and  laws  of  compulsory  attendance  prevail. 
This  accounts  for  the  small  illiteracy  of  those  who  have  long  lived  in 
these  places.  But  there  is  a large  element  which  has  lately  moved  to 
these  Northern  cities,  and  we  have  to  conclude  that  these  have  come 
from  among  the  better  educated  people  of  the  South  and  that  the  South 
has  lost  in  this  way  a great  many  whose  training  especially  qualified 
them  for  usefulness  among  the  less  favored  multitudes  of  their 
race. 

Six  cities,  Washington,  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New  York,  Chi- 
cago and  St.  Louis,  now  contain  in  the  aggregate  over  350,000  Negroes. 
It  takes  the  largest  eleven  cities  farther  south  to  match  this  number — 
New  Orleans,  Memphis,  Atlanta,  Richmond,  Charleston,  Nashville, 
Savannah,  Norfolk,  Augusta,  Montgomery  and  Mobile.  During  the 
ten  years  from  1890  to  1900  the  six  cities  increased  in  their  Negro 
population  over  100,000,  while  the  eleven  more  southerly  cities  show  an 
increase  of  less  than  65,000.  The  six  northern  cities  have  255,000  Ne- 
groes over  1 o years  of  age  who  can  read  and  write,  while  the  eleven 
cities  have  only  190,000. 

But  the  illiteracy  in  the  most  backward  cities  is  small  compared 
with  that  of  the  rural  portions  of  the  South  in  those  states  where  the 
Negroes  are  most  numerous.  This  is  shown  in  the  following  table 
which  gives  side  by  side  the  figures  for  a number  of  states  and  for  the 
cities  having  a population  of  over  25,000  in  each  state. 


Colored  Population  io  years  of  age  and  over 


In  the  whole  state 

In  cities  of  25,000  inhabitants 

Total 

Illiterate 

Per  Cent. 

Total 

Illiterate 

Per  Cent 

Connecticut 

1 3>720 

i,572 

1 1.8 

5,866 

591 

IO.I 

Massachusetts 

32,021 

3,722 

12.4 

21,965 

2,561 

11.7 

New  York 

95>978 

12,327 

12.8 

66,083 

6,500 

9.8 

Pennsylvania 

i32>438 

20.298 

15-3 

84,475 

1 1 , 1 93 

13.2 

New  Jersey 

59,°33 

10.320 

*7-5 

24,411 

3,574 

14.6 

Ohio 

79,663 

14,231 

17-9 

33,986 

5,30i 

15.6 

Illinois 

72,748 

13,253 

18.2 

35,279 

3,78i 

10.7 

Indiana 

47*355 

10,680 

22.6 

21,655 

4,681 

21.6 

District  of  Columbia 

72,414 

17,548 

24.2 

72,414 

17,548 

24.2 

Missouri 

130,161 

36,495 

28.0 

52,112 

10,466 

20.8 

West  Virginia 

34*37i 

11,094 

32-3 

945 

192 

20.3 

Maryland . 

179*909 

63,253 

35-2 

66,102 

17,037 

25.8 

Delaware 

23,587 

8,983 

38.1 

8,083 

2,39i 

29.6 

Texas 

438,883 

167,53! 

38.2 

36,202 

9,286 

25.7 

Florida 

168,980 

65,101 

38.5 

13,038 

3,054 

234 

Kentucky 

219,843 

88,186 

40.1 

44,42  7 

14,086 

31  -7 

Tennessee 

#4,980 

147,844 

41.6 

81,912 

27,058 

33-3 

Arkansas 

263,923 

H3,495 

43-o 

12,088. 

3,3r  4 

27.4 

Virginia 

479*464 

213,960 

44.6 

43,343 

14,987 

34-6 

North  Carolina 

441,756 

210,344 

47.6 

No  large 

cities 

Mississippi 

640,424 

3 1 4,6 1 7 

49.1 

u (< 

« 

Georgia 

724,305 

379, 156 

52.3 

66,825 

23,785 

35-6 

South  Carolina 

537*542 

283,940 

52.8 

25,110 

7,462 

29.7 

Alabama 

589,820 

338,707 

57-4 

41  -5 1 8 

18,035 

434 

Louisiana 

465,61 1 

284,594 

61. 1 

63,010 

22,758 

36.1 

A glance  at  these  figures  shows  how  largely  the  Negro  popula- 
tion of  the  North  is  a city  population;  how  the  illiteracy  in  northern 
cities  is  much  less  than  in  the  South  and  how  the  illiteracy  in  the  cities 
generally  is  less  than  in  rural  districts.  The  figures  of  the  Census  are 
only  for  large  cities.  If  they  were  given  for  smaller  cities  and  for  all 
towns  of  over  1000  inhabitants  the  same  lessons  would  be  emphasized 
probably  with  greater  force.  We  should  certainly  see  in  a stronger 
light  the  deplorable  ignorance  prevailing  in  the  regions  re  ? from 
the  centers.  In  the  four  states,  Georgia,  South  Caroling  Alabama 
and  Louisiana  more  than  half  of  the  Negroes  of  the  whole  state  are  il- 
literate. If  we  could  separate  the  centers  from  the  rest  it  would  be 
found  in  many  regions  that  the  intelligence  is  hardly  greater  than  fifty 
years  ago. 

There  is  a culture  which  disqualifies  a person  to  live  in  the  woods 
and  among  uncultivated  people.  Its  natural  home  is  in  a city.  The  per- 
son who  leaves  a rural  cabin  and  spends  a few  years  in  gaining  this  cul- 
ture becomes  disinclined  to  return  to  his  old  surroundings  and  ac- 
quires a love  of  things  that  are  not  to  be  found  there.  He  becomes 
habituated  to  exciting  pleasures,  to  social  pursuits,  to  luxuries  of 
many  kinds.  This  is  so  of  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich,  of  the  class 
from  which  menials  come  as  truly  as  that  from  which  captains  of  in- 


4 


dustry  and  statesmen  arise.  Indeed  it  would  seem  to  be  more  true  of 
the  inferior  class,  because  they  have  so  few  personal  resources.  They 
shrink  from  rough  fare  and  hard  work  which  men  of  finer  mould  would 
go  to  without  a murmur. 

There  is  wanted  an  education  that  will  keep  people  in  the 
country,  that  will  show  them  the  dignity  and  beauty  of  country  pur- 
suits and  fill  them  with  ardor  to  achieve  the  splendid  results  which  are 
possible  only  where  nature  and  man  toil  together  hand  in  hand.  The 
miserable  life  of  a pariah  in  some  great  city  is  a sad  ending  to  school- 
day  ambitions.  The  manly  independence  of  a vigorous,  respected 
yeoman  in  whatever  wild  woods  or  broad  fields  is  a worthy  result  of 
education.  Who  will  teach  us  this  higher  learning  ? Ability  to  read 
and  write  is  only  a single  feature  of  the  true  education.  A training  is 
required  that  will  make  the  man  a man  and  the  woman  a woman  of  the 
best  type  resolute  for  any  task  and  competent  for  all  required  duties. 


